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BIG BEAR CITY, Calif. – The Big Bear Professional Firefighters Association shared their concern about the upcoming closure of Fire Station 283. The Board of Directors voted to close the station to prevent any money needing to be taken from reserve funds. Station 283 currently serves communities including, Big Bear City, Erwin Lake, Lake Williams and Baldwin Lake.

The Big Bear Professional Firefighters Association does not agree with the reduction in services and believes that the closure will add risk to Big Bear Valley due to increased response time. According to the Big Bear Professional Firefighters Association, five recent structure fires have had 283 as the first to respond. “The Big Bear Fire Department experienced Level Zero, meaning there are no available apparatus to respond to emergencies, 112 times,” a Big Bear Firefighters Association representative said. “This year we have already experienced level zero 60 times! The closure of this station will result in far more level zero situations. Everyday, The Big Bear Fire Department has a minimum of 13 fire suppression personnel on duty and the closing of this station would bring the minimum on duty personnel down to 11.”

The lack of enough trained responders this poses a risk to residents and firefighters. Members of the community are asked to attend the Fire Authority Board Budget Workshop at Station 281 on April 17,at 4:30 p.m. “We need your help preventing this from happening,”a Big Bear Firefighters Association representative said. “All residents are encouraged to attend the Budget Workshop meeting and voice your concerns over this matter! We are proud to serve this great community and this organization needs to get to a point where we can provide exceptional service to everyone.”